Keeping Warm on St. Patrick’s Day

On this day last year, it was much warmer. Much. Warmer. This year, things are a bit more…shall we say…seasonally appropriate, temperature-wise.

If you’re an adult celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, keeping warm is as easy as a few fingers of a good whiskey. Younger celebrants aren’t as fortunate.

That’s why I’m glad I took the time a couple of months ago to finally pick up a cable needle and tackle my first aran knitting project for our little guy.

The pattern: Aaron’s Aran Sweater by Melissa Matthay. Found on Ravelry

I inherited a cable needle in a pile of crafting supplies my mom had found while cleaning out my grandmother’s many closets of things last year. And for some time I’ve been tempted to try a cable knitting project but let self-doubt talk me out of it every single time. Finding that needle in a sea of crochet hooks jumbled together came across like a message from my departed grandma: just do it.

That’s what drove the decision to try a child’s sweater pattern: it’s smaller, won’t take as much time to do, and if I had to go back and correct any errors, it wouldn’t feel like starting over. If it turned out truly awful, no one would be the wiser. No one would have to know.

I found a pattern that didn’t seem too difficult, and brought the kiddo to the local yarn shop to pick a color of machine washable yarn that he liked. Then I cast on. Let me say right now: I love working on kid-sized projects. By virtue of their little sizes, they just go so quickly, and are so dang cute to watch take shape.

In what seemed like no time at all, this sweater was ready to wear. Which was a good thing, since it just fits the intended wearer. Unfortunately, the neck opening is a bit snug around our little one’s ginormous head – something I knew beforehand, but forgot to take into account. So he’s not wearing it a lot, but each time he does I get to hear how beautiful and warm it is.

This pattern’s a keeper, without doubt. Not only did I learn a new knitting skill, I also learned not to be afraid to kick up the size for our little guy just to he has a little more time to enjoy the handiwork. Whether he decides to put it on and wear it today, it’s still a memory of a fun project and overcoming a niggling doubt to keep me knitting.